Healthy Chocolate
A Brief History
of Chocolate
The
first recorded use of cacao was 3,000 years ago.
The Olmec people, living in tropical forests
near Veracruz cultivated the cacao tree.
The Mayans, around 400 AD and living in Central America,
called the cacao tree cacahuaquchtl, or "tree".
This was the only tree they named as there was
no other tree worth naming. They believed
the tree belonged to the gods and that the pods
growing from its trunk were offerings from the
gods to man.
In 900 AD, the Toltecs, living in the same area the Mayans
had lived, revered cacao. The Toltec king
Quetzalcoatl was believed to be the god of air
whose mission was to bring the seeds of the
cacao tree from Eden to man.
The Aztecs, in the 1500s, introduced cacao to the Spaniards.
Montezuma presented Spanish explorer Hernando
Cortez with numerous gifts, including a cacao
plantation. The Aztecs valued the cacao so
much they used the pods as currency.
Cortez reported that a slave could be bought for
100 cacao beans. He called cacao "liquid
gold" and set up cacao plantations around the
Caribbean.
In 1580, the first ever chocolate processing plant was set up
in Spain. From there, chocolate spread in
popularity through Europe.
Cacao pod
(Theobroma Cacao)
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our delicious dark chocolate with
energy, digestion and metabolism herbs
added for extra benefits.
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The Meso-American civilizations of the Olmecs,
the Mayans, the Toltecs and the Aztecs revered
chocolate. This stone Aztec figure is holding
a cacao pod. The botanical name, Theobroma
Cacao, means "drink of the gods". |
Our chocolate,
ChocaMaca™, is a combination of organic
cacao (dark chocolate), sweetened with
unrefined organic evaporated cane juice,
with herbs added for energy, digestion
and metabolism. Try our delicious
good-for-you chocolates.
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Chocolate Articles & Research
Food of the Gods
by Joy Taylor,
BA, LMT
For centuries chocolate has received adoring
attention. The plant’s botanical name,
Theobroma cacao, literally means “food of
the gods” and many people would agree. It
has provided pleasure, health, and wealth in
the Rainforest regions for millennia.
more
Some Chocolate a Treat for the Heart
Dark, Bitter Varieties More Likely
to Contain Heart-Healthy Flavonols
Just in
time for the holidays comes this
sweet news: Chocolate may be good
for your heart.
more
Cocoa consumers have lower
risk of disease in study
Men who consumed the most
cocoa had a 50 percent lower
risk of dying from disease
compared to those who did
not eat cocoa, Dutch
researchers said on Monday.
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